Is it actually possible.....?

[Scotland]

The last time India toured here they made 444, 315, 408, 224, 465, 6/174, 475, 7/252. Smith and Warner made nearly 1200 runs between them.

Can easily see Kohli and co coming out and putting 500+ on the board on our pitches no worries. Will be a dull series.

 

[the_interloper]

If Australia has three of the best four quicks available and in moderate-to-good form, Sri Lanka shouldn't be a problem. Even India with their superior batting should struggle against the bounce in Australia. CA won't want green decks or there will be a few three day Tests.

This should be correct. Even if Sayers is playing they'd find him a handful under lights I reckon.

 

[Scotland]

Sayers won't get picked in Australia. Was pedestrian for most of his overs in South Africa. Meanwhile Vernon Philander came on and took 6/21 bowling in the 120s.

Would not surprise me at all if next Summer the spare seamers are Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson or whoever else is around that is fit and bowling 140+.

 

[JG22]

I think the suspensions will actually make us prepare flat or even flatter wickets over the home summer.

Because our batting is now susceptible we need to make sure that we don't collapse basically.

Our bowling though still has enough tricks to do damage on home roads, Indian quicks will have no penetration after the new ball and will be cannon fodder.

A loss to India would be significantly worse than a loss to Sri Lanka.

 

[PhatBoy]

I think the suspensions will actually make us prepare flat or even flatter wickets over the home summer.

Because our batting is now susceptible we need to make sure that we don't collapse basically.

Our bowling though still has enough tricks to do damage on home roads, Indian quicks will have no penetration after the new ball and will be cannon fodder.

A loss to India would be significantly worse than a loss to Sri Lanka.

How?

 

[JG22]

How?

India being India. They are just a huge part of cricket, their supporters & players would be much more arrogant.

 

[Hellgood]

On Australian decks it's really all about comparing bowlers as the quality of bats is almost rendered meaningless due to the conditions in their favour. India will be a real challenge, although i can't see the Sri Lankan bowlers causing too much damage due to their lack of pace.

That's a bit of a lazy misconception.

Lakmal, Prasad and Chameera all bowl over 140kmh regularly but usually are let down with a lack of consistency in their length. Lakmal has taken some big strides in recent months though.

 

[Cold Sober]

Australia flog SriLanka.
India flog Australia.
Australia get flogged by Big Footy.[again]

 

[Gough]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-...-for-australian-cricket/9622586?section=sport

A year without Steve Smith by the numbers
Steve Smith: Test average: 61.37 (77.25 at home) | ODI: 41.84 (53.47) | T20I: 21.55 (19.80)

June 2018

• 5 ODIs v England (away). Smith's average surprisingly drops to just over 30 in ODIs against the old enemy, with the bat.
• 1 T20I v England (away). He sat out Australia's last T20 International series (versus England and New Zealand) to prepare for the ill-fated tour of South Africa. That was good a result for the English given he averages a tick under 60 against them in this format.

June and July 2018

• 1 Test v Zimbabwe (away). It's been a long time since Australia and Zimbabwe have played Test cricket. 2003, in fact, when Smith was just 14 and was still seven years off his Test debut. Matthew Hayden's score of 380 against Zimbabwe — the highest score by an Australian batsman in Test cricket history — looks safe.
• 3 ODIs Zimbabwe (away). Only two ODI matches between 2011 and 2014 has netted Smith just 12 runs at an average of six.

August and September 2018

• 2 Tests v Bangladesh (home). On paper this doesn't look like much, but Smith would've been desperate to atone for the last time these two nations met in Bangladesh when the Test series finished at one-all. Having not played Bangladesh in a home Test series, he'd be keen to build on his modest average of 29.75. Of all the nations Smith has played against at Test level, Bangladesh is the only country he's yet to score a century against.
• 3 ODIs v Bangladesh (home). A poor average of 14 from just four matches with a highest score of 22 not out.

October 2018

• 5 ODIs v Pakistan (away). Good news for Pakistan. Bad news for Australia, Smith averages more than 55 against Pakistan in ODIs, almost 14 runs more than his career average.
• 1 T20I v Pakistan (away). An average of just under 18 for Smith against Pakistan in the shortest format of the game.

October and November 2018

• 5 ODIs v South Africa (home). Recent history aside, Smith enjoys the challenge against the Proteas and boasts an ODI average of almost 44 against them.
• 3 T20Is v South Africa (home). At 21.5, it's almost a carbon-copy of his T20I career average.

November 2018 — January 2019

• 4 Tests v India (home). Yes, this is where it really hurts as his overall Test average rockets from 61 to a staggering 84 against India.
• Perth's new stadium is almost certain to host one of these Tests and Smith misses out on captaining his side for this historic event.

January 2019

• 2 Tests v Sri Lanka (home). While Cameron's Bancroft's nine-month suspension ends ahead of this series, Smith will still be watching on. His average of 41 against Sri Lankan is modest, by his lofty standards, but it's still a very healthy output.
• 3 ODIs v Sri Lanka (home). Smith average against Sri Lanka in ODIs is 33.

February 2019

• 5 ODIs v India (away). This time Indian fans will lose out on a Kohli v Smith match-up. Smith's ODI average against the Indians is more than 50.
• 2 T20Is v India (away). Just an average of 12 against India for a man that was set to make 2.4 million in this year's IPL T20 competition.

March 2019

• 3 Tests v Pakistan (away). Smith's average against Pakistan is just under 60 and is right up there with his career Test figure of 61.37.

Good explainer from the ABC on exactly what Smith will be missing.

 

[archibald]

That's a bit of a lazy misconception.

Lakmal, Prasad and Chameera all bowl over 140kmh regularly but usually are let down with a lack of consistency in their length. Lakmal has taken some big strides in recent months though.

Ill give you Chameera, but to say Lakmal and Prasad bowl over 140k regularly is a lazy exaggeration.

 

[PhatBoy]

Ill give you Chameera, but to say Lakmal and Prasad bowl over 140k regularly is a lazy exaggeration.

Lakmal is fairly sharp (and rubbish usually)

 

[Doodlesweaver]

I think the suspensions will actually make us prepare flat or even flatter wickets over the home summer.

Because our batting is now susceptible we need to make sure that we don't collapse basically.

Our bowling though still has enough tricks to do damage on home roads, Indian quicks will have no penetration after the new ball and will be cannon fodder.

A loss to India would be significantly worse than a loss to Sri Lanka.

You don't know that about the Indian quicks. They have been really investing in pace bowlers for years and have a decent attack now. It's not like they are used to bowling on green tops at home.

 

[Hellgood]

Ill give you Chameera, but to say Lakmal and Prasad bowl over 140k regularly is a lazy exaggeration.

Lakmal definitely does. Sharp first spells are very much his forte.

Prasad not as good a bowler, but is just as quick and hits the deck hard in the vein of a Wagner.

 

[The Passenger]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-...-for-australian-cricket/9622586?section=sport

Good explainer from the ABC on exactly what Smith will be missing.

More than what Smith will be missing that really highlights how much international cricket Australia plays. Once June hits there isn't a single month till at least March 2019 without any and I'm pretty sure it will extend all the way to September with the world cup and Ashes to follow Smith's suspension.

Love cricket, but jesus that's overboard. No wonder people are turning off in droves. And this goes for all sports. Football creeping into summer, cricket creeping into winter. The FA Cup has largely lost relevance over here due to the dominance of the European leagues. Not too mention the wall to wall coverage you get now.

The public has sporting fatigue. Crowds and TV ratings in just about every single major sporting league are trending down. Some buck the trend, but not many.

One of the great things I remember as a teenage was not just the excitement about an Ashes tour, but every four years you were allowed to stay up late to watch cricket at night in the middle of winter. It was something totally different to the norm. Now it's "oooo good, it's May so that means another 5 match one day series against Sri Lanka for the Pepsi-BBC 24 hour Marvin Atapattu challenge trophy".

 

[thejockey]

We would take India's pace attack lightly at our own peril, they are greatly improved . Its not like its Srinath, Agarkar and Prasad coming over to lead the attack

Our biggest help will be Ashwin and Jadeja will be far less effective here . So will Herath for that matter . Very different style of spin bowling on the sub continent to here

I think we still beat Sri Lanka while I'm expecting a tight win or drawn series against the Indians
Our bowling alone should be enough to get the job done at home

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

More than what Smith will be missing that really highlights how much international cricket Australia plays. Once June hits there isn't a single month till at least March 2019 without any and I'm pretty sure it will extend all the way to September with the world cup and Ashes to follow Smith's suspension.

Love cricket, but jesus that's overboard. No wonder people are turning off in droves. And this goes for all sports. Football creeping into summer, cricket creeping into winter. The FA Cup has largely lost relevance over here due to the dominance of the European leagues. Not too mention the wall to wall coverage you get now.

The public has sporting fatigue. Crowds and TV ratings in just about every single major sporting league are trending down. Some buck the trend, but not many.

One of the great things I remember as a teenage was not just the excitement about an Ashes tour, but every four years you were allowed to stay up late to watch cricket at night in the middle of winter. It was something totally different to the norm. Now it's "oooo good, it's May so that means another 5 match one day series against Sri Lanka for the Pepsi-BBC 24 hour Marvin Atapattu challenge trophy".

There is no guarantee the tour of Zimbabwe and hosting of Bangladesh will actually happen. If anything goes ahead in Zimbabwe, the Test is almost certainly not going to be played. ZC already said they wanted a tri-series instead. But with them not in the WC they have little incentive to host, and doubts exist on whether they can afford to do so.
There is still no schedule announced for Bangladesh being here, an off-season series against a low drawing nation is something CA will no doubt try and find an excuse to back out of.

 

[DaRick]

Then again, I thought the same before the 2011/12 series here. On paper at least, they seemed to have the edge.

It turned out to be as appallingly one-sided a series as any in Australia's heyday.

I think the difference is that back then their legendary quartet was aging and obviously past their prime (with Dravid having a brief second wind in England).

Their attack was inferior back then too. Sharma was in terrible form, Yadav and Ashwin were tyros, Khan was past his best.

 

[Gethelred]

That's a bit of a lazy misconception.

Lakmal, Prasad and Chameera all bowl over 140kmh regularly but usually are let down with a lack of consistency in their length. Lakmal has taken some big strides in recent months though.

Misconception is very much that you need pace here.

Most touring sides of late seem to believe that, if you come here, you need to bring 2-3 blokes who can get the speedgun up over 140; they saw the success of SA and England on their successful tours here, and mistook pace as the reason for their series wins.

If Sri Lanka just bowls their best bowlers, regardless of the conditions, we're going to struggle; we're even worse against spin in Warner/Smith's absence than we were before. If they come here and bowl the quicks just because they're fast, they're stuffed.

India's a different kettle of fish these days. Shami, Yadav, Kumar; all handy bowlers who can bowl quickly, the first two who have a handy knack of picking up wickets against the flow of the game. I'm actually looking forward to it, actually. They never get close over here, and it'd be interesting to see if Smith/Warner's bans are sufficient a handicap to get the job done, or if they're going to trip and fall flat on their face the way they've done for most tours.

 

[Hellgood]

Misconception is very much that you need pace here.

Most touring sides of late seem to believe that, if you come here, you need to bring 2-3 blokes who can get the speedgun up over 140; they saw the success of SA and England on their successful tours here, and mistook pace as the reason for their series wins.

If Sri Lanka just bowls their best bowlers, regardless of the conditions, we're going to struggle; we're even worse against spin in Warner/Smith's absence than we were before. If they come here and bowl the quicks just because they're fast, they're stuffed.

India's a different kettle of fish these days. Shami, Yadav, Kumar; all handy bowlers who can bowl quickly, the first two who have a handy knack of picking up wickets against the flow of the game. I'm actually looking forward to it, actually. They never get close over here, and it'd be interesting to see if Smith/Warner's bans are sufficient a handicap to get the job done, or if they're going to trip and fall flat on their face the way they've done for most tours.

Agree with you on most points - has been an obsession on recent English tours here bemoaning about a lack of pace or aggression which was merely masking a lack of discipline from the bowling group.

But to be frank about the Indian attack I think Yadav is a poor test bowler, Shami has improved of late and Kumar's kiss the deck style is not all that conducive to the flat tracks of Australia. Even with the three missing from the Australian best XI I expect that the batting in home benign conditions will be very comfortable and rack up some pretty high totals as usual.

 

[eth-dog]

Kumar is a very good bowler but I feel he will be too slow here. Bowls low 130's from memory.

Shami and Yadav will be a handful. If Shami stays on the park.

Reckon we'll beat SL. Don't think their batting is good enough. India I reckon we beat if Shami can't play consistently.

 

[010203]

I had a dream that Australia racked up 500+ in their 1st innings of the 1st test this summer and the Indians were 5/50 in reply. I woke up soon after.

 

[Gibbke]

Nah. Three batsmen have gone, but Australia's bowling remains untouched. Our batting has taken a hit, but we're at home - any of the plebs who couldn't get a ton in SA could do enough to negate strong touring lineups who don't bowl as well and who traditionally dgaf about travelling here for the points...

We'll have another one of those summers where we win most games and everyone thinks we're back on the top shelf, until we then go touring again...next year it's Ashes and WC...